There were several choices for the image for this week at DS4J. Since it is so close to July 4th, I chose this one just called "Bald Eagle." It will become an Any Hero card for OWH. You can find the image here.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Hi peeps. It's time for the Wednesday Sketch challenge at The Outlawz. The sketch this week calls for a card that is not quite a square, but has one shaped side.

For my card, I used a grand Spellbinders die. I used banana leaf paper as the base. I just love that paper. It gives texture to the card. I added a Want2Scrap bling on the side and a piece of ribbon from Michaels. The ribbon actually hides a seam in the banana leaf paper. The card wasn't wide enough to suit me so I added another inch of banana paper to the left side. The image is Charlotte with Flower and Bird from Milk Coffee. I used the print and cut feature on my Cameo to print and cut the image. I had cut this image awhile ago. Since then I have decided to make the margin a little smaller. After I colored it with Copics, I mounted it to the card using foam tape. A few flowers from Recollections and the card was complete.

Monday, June 24, 2013

I am having a ball with the sketches from Atlantic Hearts. If you like sketches, head on over to the challenge site and try your hand at this week's sketch. It lived up to it's name - challenge. I stared at the sketch for awhile and decided to try my luck with creating my own background following the design on the sketch. It took me almost a whole day, because I am lousy at math and figuring out the relative sizes for the squares/rectangles. However, I am I really pleased with the outcome and think it was worth the effort.

I started with a 5x7 card base and cut a black piece 4 3/4 x 6 3/4. I decided I wanted about 1/4" between the pieces. Using scraps, I cute and laid the pieces where I wanted them. My next step was choosing what paper to use. I looked through the bin of paper that I was given for helping in a pinch at the local scrapbook store and found the blue paper which is banana leaf. It's very fibrous so I didn't want to cut it with my Cameo. I was afraid it would gum up the blade too much. It didn't cut well with the trimmer because of its thickness. So, I made the initial cut with the trimmer and then made a clean cut with a scissors. After I got all the pieces adhered (I used my Xyron X and the 2.5), I searched for something to use for the sentiment box. I decided to use some American Craft gold foil cardstock and cut it with the Cameo. The sentiment is a peel off sticker from Elizabeth Craft Designs. It looks quite simple for all the work that went into it, but I really like the way it looks in real life.

Morning peeps. It's time for another challenge over at Tammy's Scrapin Corner. This week the challenge is to do a step card. You can find lots of tutorials on Splitcoast Stampers site. This is the side step card. Since I have a Silhouette Cameo, I found the file for cutting this card in their store. I downloaded it because it is a lot easier for me to have it already cut than to mark all the places that have to be cut and folded.

Our sponsors for this week are Bugaboo Stamps and SKDigis. I wanted to do a patriotic card so I found this cute image called SB July USA on Bugaboo. For my dp, I used Bo Bunny Liberty 6x6 paper pad and chipboard embellies. The ribbon is from my stash.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

A little late posting this, but here it is finally. The challenge at DS4J is For the Men in Our Lives. I chose to use Prof. Pedro for my digi. You can find him and lots of other really neat digis in the DS4Joy store here. Check it out. You can earn a dollar credit for every $10 you spend. It's a great way to get lots of fantastic digis.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Morning peeps. Almost forgot to do this challenge. I have been busy catching up on the ones I let slide while I was sick. I think I am almost caught up.

The sketch this week over at The Outlawz is this one.

My card:

I used papers from Kaisercraft Remember Me 6 1/2" paper pad. The image is "Pippin and the Apple: by JenLee and is available at the DigiStamps4Joy Store. I used a Spellbinders scalloped oval to cut the image and colored it with Copic markers. The sentiment die is from Stampin' Up and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. I popped the sentiment up with foam tape. I colored the two pearls from Want2Scrap with a Copic marker to match the paper and the outfit on the image.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Hi Peeps! Today's challenge at Tuesday Throwdown is sponsored by The Paper Shelter. The theme is "Fantasy." For my image, I chose Magic Bubble Bath. You can find the image here. One of the great things about their stamps, is that they come with a pre-colored image and also a matching paper in addition to the regular stamp. They also show a sample of a card made with the image. Feeling a little bit lazy, I decided to go with the pre-colored image. I used flowers from Prima and Kaisercraft. The pleated ribbon is from Stampin' Up. I added a little Glossy Accents to the tub and Stickles to the wings. The doily pieces are from Wilton. I just cut a heart in half. I used two Spellbinder sets for the die cuts - Labels Twenty-Six and Decorative Labels One.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Hi Peeps. It's time to post the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge once again. I am still getting used to their guidelines for the DT entries, but I'll get there sooner or later. This week, the sketch showed a chevron paper in the background. I just happened to have this chevron paper, even though you can use any kind of background paper that suits you. Instead of a flower, I decided to use a digi from Bugaboo Stamps instead. I added the sentiment from SK Digis. I used Copics for the image.

I have been wanting to use the center step card from the Silhouette Store. It cut perfectly for all parts. For the image die cut, I used the largest die from Spellbinders Floral Ovals. I colored the image with Copic Markers and sponged Squeezed Lemonade distress ink over the bare spots on the oval. I added some flowers from Recollections and a punched leaf from Martha Stewart.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The sketch for the Outlawz sketch challenge for today was quite a challenge. I wasn't sure what I would use in the three small boxes. I felt they were once again too small for a full stamp. So, I checked out what tall, narrow stamps I had and decided this one would be perfect to cut into three pieces. I added some Stickles to the flowers to make them sparkle and go along with the sentiment.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Since it is only a couple weeks until we celebrate Independence Day, I thought I would make up a couple Fourth of July cards. I used this Bo Bunny paper and embellishments to make this card for Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #7. The solid color cardstocks and sentiment are from my scrap stash. I colored the bling from Want2Scrap with my Copic markers to match the paper.

Morning peeps. Today's challenge over at Tammy's Scrapin Corner is to do a manly/Father's Day card. I chose to use Happy Octopus and sentiment from our Sponsor, SK Digis. I thought he would be a good hugger for Dad. When I went to do the water scene, I remembered the cork sheets that I bought about a year ago and haven't used since. The next project was to find where I put them. That was the hard part. Once I found them, I cut a small piece to use as the sand on my card. I printed out the water-y looking paper from a file I had saved on my computer and used the Fiskar's wave punch on the edge. I has a sunrise picture in my file from a cruise I took so I printed it out on cardstock and used it for my sky. I colored the goofy looking octopus with Copics and added some googly eyes. I printed and cut the image and sentiment with my Silhouette Cameo.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

It's Sunday again. They surely roll around fast. The Sunday release is up and running over at DigiStamps4Joy. You can find the new releases here. Don't forget, you can now earn points toward free digis when you purchase a digi. Grab one, make your project and then enter it in the current challenge. I'd love to see what you come up with. I chose to use Tag. I did add the sentiment from Hero Arts though. The digi does not have anything in the sky. That's so you can add your own sentiment. As usual, I colored the image with Copics. I used distress ink for the blue sky and the green margin. The ribbon was from my stash of bits and pieces of ribbons.

Friday, June 7, 2013

It's Freebie Friday time over at DigiStamps4Joy. Every month on the first Friday, Margy graciously gives everybody the free digi. It is only available for two days and then you will need to purchase it.

Freebies are ONLY available for downloading in the DS4J SHOP.There is however no reason to be 'afraid' of setting up an account in the shop as it IS free, and is easy, and when you add the image to the cart, enter the code and checkout, it WILL be free. There is NO obligation to purchase any other items, and of course next month your account will already be set up!

Hop on over to the store and grab your freebie. There you will find some fantastic inspiration provided by the DT. The freebie is this gorgeous Cherry Bonsai Tree.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

I got my latest issue of Card Maker Magazine and found a couple rather simple cards I would like to try. This card can be found on page 72 of the Summer 2013 issue. There was one simple error in the directions. It said to make 8 diagonal score lines. I did that on the first one I tried, and it was one line too many. 7 is the proper amount. I used Bazzill cardstock for the background and Core-dinations cardstock and sanded it. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. I used a little piece of peel and stick border from my stash.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Morning Peeps. I'm running a little behind due to the bronchitis that seems to have moved in to stay. When I take the medication, it makes me sleepy so I am taking a lot more naps than I usually do. But then that means I don't get as much done in a day as I would like. But enough about that for now.

The theme of the challenge at DigiStamps4Joy this week is "Oh To Be Young Again." I chose to use "Ronnie Reader" because the stamp reminds me of summer days in my childhood. I used to haunt the library and read about 10 books a week. You can find "Ronnie Reader" here.

I layered scraps to get the effect. Then I added three rhinestones and the sentiment from Hero Arts. I colored the image and the rhinestones with Copic markers.

Morning again, Peeps. Sketch challenge for The Outlawz is up and running. It is an easy sketch. No images are necessary. Of course, you could use images in the circles if you'd like. The sponsor for July is Sherry K Designs. There are some fantastic digital paper designs in the store. The printed paper I used is from the Anna set of these 10 different designs.

The solid black cardstock is Recollections and the lavender paper is Bazzill. The flowers are from my stash, maker unknown. The bling is from Want2Scrap. I stamped the sentiment with a stamp from a Hero Arts set and cut it with a Stampin' Up punch. I used foam tape to pop the sentiment. I didn't use images because I felt they would be too small to have much impact.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Morning Peeps. So glad you made it over here today. Tuesday Thowdown challenge for this week needs embossing, dry or wet. I used dry embossing. For my image, I used Strawberry Mouse from Robyn's Fetish, our sponsor for this challenge.

I embossed the red layer with Herringbone folder by Cutlebug and the yellow strip with a narrow folder from Anna Griffin. I colored the image with Copics. The sentiment is a digi from Paper Smooches.

Morning Peeps. It's Tuesday so that means it is time for another challenge at Tuesday Throwdown. This week, we need to see some embossing. It can be either dry or wet. I used dry. The sponsor for this challenge is Robyn's Fetish.

I embossed both the red layer and the yellow border piece. Then I used my Copics to color the image. I found the sentiment online. The buttons are from American Crafts.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Morning Peeps. This is my first entry as a member of the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge Design Team. I am very happy to have been chosen for this team. If you have never heard of it, check it out here. If your mojo is sagging, it's a great place to be for sketches to help jump start your mojo.

Here is the sketch for Challenge 6. Your finished project is due no later than Sunday, June 9, at 11:59 AST (that's equivalent to EST). Winners will be posted on Wednesday. You can also find all the past sketches on the blog.

For my card, I decided to use the quilling supplies I bought about a year ago and have just been sitting on the shelf in my craft closet. They weren't doing me any good there. I just made some circles of varying sizes and attached them to the card. I want to learn how to make different shapes. That's my next project for a rainy day. The sentiment layer was cut with a Spellbinder die and stamped with a Hero Arts stamp. I added a little distress ink to make it stand out and also used foam tape to adhere it to the card. The card base is made from Recollections cardstock and the green printed layer is from the Old World stack by DCWV. The bling was in my stash, maker unknown.

Morning Peeps. Today's challenge at Tammy's Scrapin Corner is a fun one - use extra texture. Our sponsor is QKR Stampede. I chose to use Little Boy. For my texture, I embossed the bottom layer, added twine and used Martha Steward Flocking Powder on his shirt.

Of course, I used Copics to color the image. After I embossed the layer, I sponged a couple different colors of distress inks over the raised parts. Then I wound the twine around and used foam tape to adhere it to the card base.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Morning Peeps. It has been a wonderful week for me. I just returned yesterday from three days enjoying my stepdaughter and her fantastic family. My youngest granddaughter graduated from high school on Thursday so I drove the 3 1/2 hours to be there with her. Because they are all so far away, I don't get to see them nearly as often as I would like. I got to meet my youngest great-granddaughter for the first time. She is 14 months old. But, I digress.

This morning, over at DS4J, there are several new release digi stamps in the store that I'm sure you will like. Why not hop on over there and check them out. I chose to use Misteri in Japan by JenLee. Because I wasn't going to be home with all my supplies for the couple days before this release, I deviated from my usual Copic markers. This time I used colored pencils. They were easier to pack and took up less room in my suitcase. The background print paper is a digi paper from Sherry K Designs. The green layer is from an old Creative Memories give away from several years ago. The pearls were colored with Copics to match Misteri's dress. The flower is from Prima and the leaves were cut with my Cameo Silhouette.